Shades, curtains, drapes, or the like, having a ballooning effect can provide a very desirable treatment for windows, sliding glass doors, and the like. Conventional hardware associated with such shades, curtains, or draperies include a board onto which a number of eye hooks are attached. The board is mounted adjacent the top of the window or door with which the shade, curtain, or drape is to be associated, and pull cords passing through eyelets formed on the back of the shade, or the like, pass through the eye hooks. While such a structure is successful in accomplishing the desired ballooning effect, it is a relatively complex, cumbersome, and complicated structure.
According to the present invention, a balloon shade (curtain, drape or the like) assembly is provided which is simplified compared to the common commercial prior art structures. The assembly according to the present invention includes a conventional rod in place of the wooden board. A number of eyelet means are associated with the curtain rod, and may be affixed to the curtain rod at desired selected positions along the curtain rod. These eyelet means receive the pull cords in the same manner that the eye hooks receive the pull cords in conventional assemblies.
Each of the eyelet means preferably includes an eyelet forming body member, a holding member, and a fastener means. The fastener means operatively attached the body member and the holding member to the curtain rod in a selected position to which they have been moved along the curtain rod.
The eyelet forming body member and the holding member are preferably distinct portions of an integral body, which preferably is made of plastic. The holding member comprises a hollow member having an interior hollow opening having basically the same cross-sectional shape and dimensions as the curtain rod, and adapted to slide as a sleeve over the curtain rod. The eyelet forming body member is an extension of the sleeve, extending outwardly from one side thereof, and including an opening through which the cord passes. The fastener means preferably comprises a screw which screws through a wall of the holding member to operatively frictionally engage the curtain rod to hold the body member and the holding member in the selected position to which they have been moved along the curtain rod.
Alternatively, the eyelet forming body member may comprise an integral piece of plastic having aligned free ends with means defining aligned openings in the free ends, and a looped central portion. The holding means then comprises a sheet metal nut of rectangular shape, and curved about an axis through a central portion thereof, a sheet metal nut disposed within an interior volume defined by the curtain rod. The fastener means then comprises a screw which passes through the aligned openings in the free ends of the eyelet body member, and into operative engagement with the sheet metal nut. When the screw is loosened the eyelet may be moved to any desired position along the curtain rod, and when the screw is tightened down the eyelet is fixed in place along the curtain rod.
It is the primary object of the present invention to provide a simple yet effective mechanism for hanging a balloon shade, curtain, drape, or the like. This and other objects of the invention will become clear from an inspection of the detailed description of the drawings, and from the appended claims.